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Imprinting in the Store Consciousness
The seeds of defiled phenomena in the Alaya are neither different from nor identical to the Alaya; they manifest as defiled phenomena (actions, phenomena) and then, in turn, are re-absorbed, giving rise to new seeds. It is precisely the capacity to manifest and maintain all these seeds that gives Alaya the name storehouse consciousness (the consciousness that contains all seeds). Like a museum that is both the building and the treasures within it—two, yet one—the Alaya is both the container and the contained, neither two nor one.
The manifestation of defiled phenomena and the Alaya serve as mutual causes for each other simultaneously: when defiled phenomena manifest as active processes, they in turn reinforce seeds in the Alaya, similar to how the flame and the wick of a lamp mutually arise and perish, or like a piece of cloth that at first shows no color, but when imbued with dye, various colors immediately appear. This process is called “perfuming”: the active agent is the phenomena, the recipient is the Alaya.
Broadly, there are two subtle types of conditioned co-arising in the Mahayana:
- Conditioned co-arising of discriminative self-nature: the manifestation of distinct phenomena from the foundation of Alaya, allowing for the discrimination of self-nature (the capacity to maintain its own nature, the basis for the arising of things and their comprehension).
- Conditioned co-arising of discriminative liking and disliking: expressed through the twelve links of dependent origination, distinguishing wholesome and unwholesome realms according to liking or disliking (the perfuming of conditioned links).